Sunday, February 23, 2014

Gentle Things and Hard Things

acrylic on 10" x 10" canvas

I'm posting this painting from last year as a form of "Hello", "I'm still here."  I don't think I am going to paint like this anymore, but who knows?  It's kind of tight, but there is something about it that I like anyway.  It's sitting on my shelf.

I've been doing all sorts of experimenting, mostly on a small scale, and working on a painting that has had me kind of obsessed.  In spare moments I've turned to it.  And there is not much yet to see.

I am becoming more and more dissatisfied with wholly representational painting.  Works by artists that are a successful amalgam of representation and abstract have fascinated me lately, and I am trying to see what I can do in that regard.  Abstracting reality may be an answer to my attempts to portray the real behind what we see.  I'd really like to avoid surrealism, but that seems to be what first occurs, an attempt to speak through symbolism.  I will have to let the process occur naturally, and see what happens.

As a casual aside, I've been playing with ink on yupo, hidden images.  One experiment was this, which felt a bit busy:




Ya think?!  Some might call it scribbling.

Then later there was this, on NOT (cold-pressed) watercolor paper:



Semi-controlled scribbling.

And then to this:

Watercolor and ink on NOT 7" x 5" paper


Yes, when I am wearing my fine art hat I am loopy, but my illustrator hat is still in tact.

Let's see what else have I been doing?  Oh,  I had a wrestling match with a flower, and the flower won.  It used to be that my favorite saying was, "The gentlest thing in the world overcomes the hardest thing in the world." from the Tao Te Ching.  Now I'm sure it's true.  And Lisa Daria makes it look so easy!


21 comments:

  1. Wonderful work! All of it! I absolutely love your "scribblings" and the final image is supreme!
    Glad you said hello and glad you are still here. Looking forward to "seeing what happens".
    Go Dan!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So do I - I hope it's something good. Thanks for loving my scribblings!

      Delete
  2. Yes the scribblings are good,i like them. Thanks for sharing. Are you going to post them in g+?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nah, Azzizz, they are scribblings..actually have already done my next post. I forget about G+ sometimes.

      Delete
  3. The scribblings are wonderful. I particularly like the middle one and the busy one. Lots of images in that mix of black and white. The painting is good and worthy of your shelf or someone else's wall. Nice to see you here.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I like the scribbling it has a graphic quality. It doesn't matter which hat you're wearing it's important to keep experimenting and keep the creative juices flowing!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dude! That controlled scribble is really cool looking.

    ReplyDelete
  6. LOVE, love your scribbling - especially the one on paper with a figure peering through. And you carried over a little of it in your last watercolor illustration. Great work....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOVE - now that is a word I did not expect for these. They are a step to something else. Thanks!

      Delete
  7. Great to be back and reading your post. I too like the scribbling especially the second with the character and the last watercolor. I see YOU in it. I went to Lisa Daria and I see what you mean. Speaking of minimalist work!! Wish I was there...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The second is my favorite too. The last watercolor is definitely more like my prior work. Lisa Daria is amazing!!

      Delete
  8. Love the scribbles, I kept looking at them and I like how new things pop out of them. And that last painting with the two sitting down, I totally love her face and how she looks like she;s thinking but cant really put her finger on it and pretty how I feel when I see these last three drawings here (especially the last one with the light blue back ground, I'm so drawn to it) your work remind me of an illustrator I remember from Sweden, but I cant remind me of his name... I know it but I just cant put my finger on it... Will let you know when I figure that out.

    Never tried working on yupo so that's very interesting, how do you find it working on it? Great post again Dan and good to see you back drawing again!

    Hope all is well down there in warm Florida, here its still full winter but you can tell spring is trying to push through with a hint or two.

    Cheers!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much Mari. I am glad you like how things pop out of the scribbles, I hope to do something more like it. I am honored to be compared to a Swedish illustrator - all of the art I have seen from Sweden is excellent. Tack!

      Yupo is wild - you definitely ought to try it. I have ended up (involuntarily) having some of my freest watercolor work on yupo. I do not have any control because it has no bite. With the ink it was different. Everything stayed in it's place and I really liked the stark contrast between the black of the ink and white of the yupo. You ought to try it.

      I have seen a hint of spring in your beautiful photos. In Florida it's warm and breezy and it's been quite nice lately. All of the ice comes from the inside out - we have to watch that. Cheers!!!

      Delete
  9. HI ya Dan, I have been gone a very long time, and what was cool for me is when I visited your site again, I expected to see one thing and BAM, a new you was born while I was away.. I look at your WONDERFUL "scribbling" and I wonder what is going on in your life that sent your mind - and pen- in this direction? Let if flow brother cus I gotta say it's really cool. My favorite is the one in the middle.. I am sure what I see is not what everyone else sees.. I can put myself into the work.. and that is the beauty of it..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow - thank you Toria! This has got to be one of the most wonderful and encouraging comments ever! I plan to let it flow - thanks! I need to - I have no choice..it's a compulsion. And I just can't keep doing the same. I have to do what satisfies me at the time. Wondering what is going on in my life and mind - that is very insightful. There have been some dramatic life changes, and some traumatic experiences. Maybe my attraction to a more abstract style is the opportunity to communicate in code. I never had to speak in code before, but there are some things I cannot say otherwise. Then again, maybe not. I am just .. changed. I think differently. Even my preferences are different. My favorite is the one in the middle too, and I am glad you are pulled in and find beauty there. Thank you.

      Delete
  10. Good afternoon all, glad to find this website interesting as ..

    ReplyDelete